French › Level one lessons › Travel · Les voyages

The preposition de /də/ means from:

Il est de Paris.^{He is from Paris.}

De becomes d' before a vowel, due to elision:

Nous sommes d'Orléans.^{We are from Orléans.}

The definite article is included with countries:

Vous êtes de la Suisse ?^{Are you from Switzerland?}

The contraction du /dy/ is used in place of de le:

Elles sont du Luxembourg.^{They are from Luxembourg.}

Likewise, the contraction des /dɛ/ is used in place of de les:

Nous sommes des Pays-Bas.^{We are from the Netherlands.}

De also has other translations, which depend on context. For example, it is used to indicate an amount:

5 kilos de pommes^{5 kilograms of apples}

Possessive adjectives are used to express possession of an object:

C'est mon passeport.^{It's my passport.}

In English the possessive adjective agrees with the subject (his sister, her brother). But in French, possessive adjectives act like all other adjectives: they must agree with the noun they modify.

Whether son, sa and ses translate to his or her is indicated by context:

Oui, elle a son billet.^{Yes, she has her ticket.}

Notre, votre, and leur modify singular nouns, regardless of gender; nos, vos, and leurs modify plural nouns:

le chalet (m) : C'est notre chalet.^{It's our chalet.}

la caravane: C'est notre caravane.^{It's our caravan.}